Weapon Properties
Many weapons have special properties related to their use, as shown in the weapons table. Ammunition You can use a weapon that has the Ammunition property to make a ranged Attack only if you have Ammunition to fire from the weapon. Each time you Attack with the weapon, you expend one piece of Ammunition. Drawing the Ammunition from a quiver, case, or other container is part of the Attack (you need a free hand to load a one-handed weapon). At the end of the battle, you can recover half your expended Ammunition by taking a minute to search the battlefield. If you use a weapon that has the Ammunition property to make a melee Attack, you treat the weapon as an Improvised Weapons (see “Improvised Weapons” later in the section). A sling must be loaded to deal any damage when used in this way. Charge If you have moved at least 20 feet while mounted, you may add your Dexterity or Strength modifier (depending on the weapon) twice for the purposes of calculating damage. Crushing When attacking a creature wearing heavy armor, with a thick hide, or with natural armor with an AC of 16 or higher with this weapon, you gain a +2 to hit. What creatures count for this bonus is ultimately up to DM's discretion. Cutting When dealing damage to a creature wearing no armor, wearing light armor, or with natural armor with an AC of 16 or lower, you increase the amount of slashing damage you deal by 2. What creatures count for this bonus is ultimately up to DM's discretion. Deflect If you are the target of a melee weapon attack by a creature you can see, you can use your reaction to parry the blow, increasing your AC by 1 until the start of your next turn, or until you are no longer holding the weapon. This effect stacks with itself if you are wielding two weapons with the Deflect property, as well as with the buckler’s parry effect. Finesse When Making an Attack with a finesse weapon, you use your choice of your Strength or Dexterity modifier for the Attack and Damage Rolls. You must use the same modifier for both rolls. Heavy Small creatures have disadvantage on Attack rolls with heavy weapons. A heavy weapon’s size and bulk make it too large for a Small creature to use effectively. Heft This particular weapon is too large to wield normally unless you have a Strength score of at least 16. If you do not meet the requirement, you suffer disadvantage on all attacks made with this weapon and your speed decreased by 10 feet when the weapon is wielded. Additionally, You can never dual wield these weapons, even if you have the Dual Wielder feat. Improvised Weapons Sometimes characters don’t have their weapons and have to Attack with whatever is at hand. An Improvised Weapon includes any object you can wield in one or two hands, such as broken glass, a table leg, a frying pan, a wagon wheel, or a dead Goblin. Often, an Improvised Weapon is similar to an actual weapon and can be treated as such. For example, a table leg is akin to a club. At the GM’s option, a character proficient with a weapon can use a similar object as if it were that weapon and use his or her Proficiency Bonus. An object that bears no resemblance to a weapon deals 1d4 damage (the GM assigns a damage type appropriate to the object). If a character uses a ranged weapon to make a melee Attack, or throws a melee weapon that does not have the thrown property, it also deals 1d4 damage. An improvised thrown weapon has a normal range of 20 feet and a long range of 60 feet. Light A light weapon is small and easy to handle, making it ideal for use when fighting with two weapons. Loading Because of the time required to load this weapon, you can fire only one piece of Ammunition from it when you use an action, Bonus Action, or Reaction to fire it, regardless of the number of attacks you can normally make. Puncture When dealing piercing damage to a creature wearing heavy armor, medium armor, with a thick hide, or with natural armor with an AC of 17 or higher with this weapon, you increase the amount of piercing damage you deal by 2. What creatures count for this bonus is ultimately up to DM’s discretion. Range A weapon that can be used to make a ranged Attack has a range in parentheses after the Ammunition or thrown property. The range lists two numbers. The first is the weapon’s normal range in feet, and the second indicates the weapon’s long range. When attacking a target beyond normal range, you have disadvantage on the Attack roll. You can’t Attack a target beyond the weapon’s long range. Reach This weapon adds 5 feet to your reach when you Attack with it, as well as when determining your reach for Opportunity Attacks with it. Silvered Weapons Some monsters that have immunity or resistance to nonmagical weapons are susceptible to silver weapons, so cautious adventurers invest extra coin to plate their weapons with silver. Different craftsmanship weapons require different fees to silver, as shown in the Silvering table. For example, a weapon of poor craftsmanship would cost 40 gp, while a weapon of master craftsmanship would cost 1,500 gp. Shaft While wielding this weapon, opportunity attacks you make against creatures at a reach over 5 feet deal an extra 1d4 damage. Additionally, opportunity attacks made against you at a reach over 5 feet are made at disadvantage. Special A weapon with the special property has unusual rules governing its use, explained in the weapon’s description (see “Special Weapons” later in this section). Splitting When you roll maximum on the weapon’s damage dice, you roll an additional 1d6 and add it to the final damage. Thrown If a weapon has the thrown property, you can throw the weapon to make a ranged Attack. If the weapon is a melee weapon, you use the same ability modifier for that Attack roll and damage roll that you would use for a melee Attack with the weapon. For example, if you throw a javelin, you use your Strength, but if you throw a dagger, you can use either your Strength or your Dexterity, since the dagger has the finesse property. Two-Handed This weapon requires two hands when you Attack with it. Unblockable Attacks made using this weapon ignores the AC increase granted by any type of shield. Versatile This weapon can be used with one or two hands. A damage value in parentheses appears with the property—the damage when the weapon is used with two hands to make a melee Attack. Weighty Swing Whenever you roll a natural 1 on an attack roll, you deal bludgeoning damage to yourself equal to your Strength modifier. Additionally, when attacking a creature wearing heavy armor, with a thick hide, or with natural armor with an AC of 17 or higher with this weapon, you gain a +1 to hit. What creatures count for this bonus is ultimately up to DM's discretion. Worn A worn weapon is strapped to the user as part of their armor or clothing and cannot be disarmed. A Worn weapon is considered a light weapon held in another hand for the purposes of the two weapon fighting rules. Special Weapons Weapons with special rules are described here. Bayonet A bayonet is a spike-shaped weapon strapped to the bottom of a two-handed firearm or crossbow, instead of a user’s armor or clothing, requiring the wielder to be proficient in the weapon the bayonet is attached to use it properly. Attacks made with the bayonet are considered melee weapon attacks and can be used to provoke opportunity attacks whenever a creature leaves your range. Boomerang If you make a ranged attack with a boomerang, regardless of weather you hit or miss, you catch it at the end of your turn if you still have a free hand. Boomerangs weapons need lots of space to bank and return to the thrower. There must be no obstructions (such as walls or trees) in a circle around the target of diameter equal to the distance to the target. Billhook As a bonus action, you can pull a Medium or smaller creature 5 feet towards you by making a contested Strength (Athletics) test. This effect can be used to pull creatures off of mounts. Lance You have disadvantage when you use a lance to attack a target within 5 feet of you. Additionally, a lance requires two hands to wield when you aren't mounted. Meteor Hammer The meteor hammer is considered a Monk weapon. Continued practice with a Meteor Hammer leads to further mastery of this weapon. Every day spent practicing with a Meteor Hammer, you can select one of the following attributes. * You can take the Disarm Maneuver from the Fighter Battle Master and use it as an attack and can perform it within this weapon’s reach. This can only be used once per round. * This weapon gains the Reach property while you are wielding it. This option can be taken twice to extend its reach from 10 feet to 15 feet * The damage die increases from 1d10 to 1d12 * You can replace the Weighty Swing property with the Crushing property instead. These augmentations transfer to any Meteor Hammers used. Net A Large or smaller creature hit by a net is restrained until it is freed. A net has no effect on creatures that are formless, or creatures that are Huge or larger. A creature can use its action to make a DC 10 Strength check, freeing itself or another creature within its reach on a success. Dealing 5 slashing damage to the net (AC 10) also frees the creature without harming it, ending the effect and destroying the net. When you use an action, bonus action, or reaction to attack with a net, you can make only one attack regardless of the number of attacks you can normally make. Spike, Elbow Elbow spikes can be built into any weight of armor, but the wearer must be proficient in the kind of armor the spike is built into to use it effectively. Attacks with an elbow spike in the same turn as that arm was used for any other action or attack (excluding other elbow spike attacks) are made at disadvantage. If both Elbow and Knee spikes are added to an armor together, they cause disadvantage on Stealth rolls for the wearer. Spike, Head A Head spike is always part of a large helmet, to use it effectively, the wearer must be proficient in either Medium or Heavy armor. Attacks with a head spike made against opponents a size smaller than you are made at disadvantage. Spike, Knee Knee Spikes can be built into any weight of armor, but the wearer must be proficient in the kind of armor the spike is built into to use it effectively. Attacks with a knee spike against a target you are grappling, are grappled by, or is otherwise sharing your square are made at advantage. All other attacks are made at disadvantage. If both Elbow and Knee spikes are added to an armor together, they cause disadvantage on Stealth rolls for the wearer. Throwing Knife If this weapon is thrown to make a ranged attack, it deals 1d4 piercing damage instead of its 1d2 piercing damage. Trident If you throw this weapon and the attack hits, in addition to doing normal damage, the target must make a Strength saving throw, with a DC equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus + Strength modifier, or their movement becomes 0 until the end of their next turn. This only affects creatures with an overland movement speed; if a creature flies, swims, hovers, burrows, etc., this effect does nothing.